Damn. 50 issues. 10 years. Not gonna talk about the history. Session 50 says it all. Go check it out, it’s on the shelves now (30 Oct 2012).
Was really cool of the lads at Session to ask me to shoot the cover for issue 50. Respect brothers.
Hitting the streets with Brendan Body, reminded me why we spent so many years out in the streets shooting what we love. It’s part of who we are. Dreamt of this as a kid and then got to be out there. Grateful for it and the times still to come.
When Clint called about the cover shot, i quickly went to my little black book of skate spots, thinking location options would be easy… Not so. Had to be just right. Something that shouted Brendan. Wallride or no comply…
We started with the wallride. Video footage would have shown the brave fight Brendan put up to conquer that wall and the eventual land – flowing and solid ride away. Classic stuff.
The weekend saw us at the Wits concrete bank. Almost identical conditions to wallride shoot. 12pm Midday. Direct overhead sun. Washed out background sky on horizon.
For the shooters: The only way to give punch to a light sky is to bring the exposure down effectively. You could do that by shooting 250/th sec flash sync and closing the aperture considerably, but you’d introduce motion blur. Effectively, you’re introducing two competing lights to stop the motion. After the flash has done its work, the slow 250/sec shutter is open long enough to blur the action as the sun is still illuminating the continuing movement across the frame.
This is where the PocketWizard TT1 and TT5 models, with Hypersync technology, step in. Test it with your specific flash unit to see what sync speeds you can achieve. On this cover shot i managed to sync at 1000th/sec with my speedligns and PW’s. These babies will let you create a cool looking sky – any time of the day!
Back to the riding…
Bren had invited his lovely lady Guinevere and long-time JHB skateboarder, Gavin Scott, for moral support. (Always good to have some of the team on hand at these shoots). After the usual shouting, frustration, advice and smoke breaks, Brendan no-complied himself back into that bank and into SA skate history.
Thanks for creating Session bud, and for fighting to keep it alive as long as you have.
Let the good times roll.
-Ben
